Giving in to Feelings
by Woody2792
Summary: A lifetime has passed since the downfall of the Black King, and a new batch of Riders are on their way to be trained. Arya is accompanying them, and how will she behave? One-shot, ExA.


As the wind blew lightly across her face, Arya closed her eyes, letting it ruffle her hair. With a soft sigh, she opened them again, and brushed a few strands of hair from her eyes. All around her she could see a most amazing shade of blue, with green smudges here and there. A tendril of consciousness gently touched her mind, a smile ghosted her lips and she opened her mind fully. Fírnen's mind enveloped her own, quickly followed by a feeling of joy that spread itself through her body, from her very core, to her extremities. It was another few moments before he came into her line of vision; a green speck in the sky which quickly grew larger, before he alighted onto the decking of the ship. It took a few seconds for the ship to still its rocking, but by that time, Arya had reached Fírnen's side and was gently stroking his nose.

_How was your hunting?_

_It went well little one, I caught 3 fish, and made friends with a skin-flipper-water-life._

Unable to convey his encounter any clearer through use of words, the majestic dragon sent images to his Rider's mind, depicting a strange grey coloured creature that seemed to have the attributes of a fish, yet skin like humans. It was like nothing she had seen or heard of, but then again of the waters outside of Alagaësia very little was known. She made a mental note to research it when she next had an opportunity.

There was a brief pause, and it was only when Fírnen nudged her elbow that she realised her joy had degenerated into her mood from earlier, one of longing and solitude.

_It is not long now, Arya, mayhaps then the light will return to your eyes and spirit._

_I do not mean to be so downhearted Fírnen, you know me, especially with our destination, but I cannot help but think to whence we shall next be on this ship, and the pain I shall feel then._

_It shall be worth it, and you will not be alone in your pain, but rather it shall be shared equally amongst four. Come now, we have nearly arrived; he should not see you like this._

_As always, you are right. Come, we should ready everyone else too._

Almost as if to dispel the thoughts and feeling from her mind, the elf shook her head and then let her usual facade settle across her features. She sorted her hair as best she could, pulling it from her face with the strip leather that had lasted her many a year, and began to see that the few others on board were aware of their imminent departure from the vessel.

A large building began to loom into sight, emerging from the mist that rolled around the edges of the shore, and everyone but the elf gasped; admittedly she had done so when she first saw it, but that was long ago now, almost a lifetime ago for some. Clunking sounds echoed around them as they came into dock and the anchor was released. There were two figures on the shore, one significantly larger than the other, and Arya could not help but smile when she saw them. She jumped onto Fírnen, motioning for the three around her to do the same, and they all flew to the figures. The three, a Dwarf, Elf and Urgal all bowed and paid their respects to the two in front of them, as they should, and Arya followed their lead mere moments later, a smirk settled across her features which was duly noticed by the two in front.

Once all the formalities were dealt with, and introductions were over, the man had one of his helpers take each of the new arrivals to their own room – where they were to live while they were trained – which left Arya and Fírnen alone with the two figures. There were a few seconds of contemplation on both parts, mainly of how to deal with meeting one another again, but there was no tension. Fírnen decided enough was enough and made the first move. Tentatively, he took a couple of steps towards what had been the larger shape from the boat, and nuzzled its nose, deep hums rumbling away in his throat. His sounds of happiness were added to when Saphira began to hum as well; the two of them combined were enough that Arya and the man could feel the noise vibrate through their very bones. There was a brief touching of minds between dragon and Rider before the dragons pushed off from the land, propelling themselves high into the sky with strong beats of their wings.

There was no need for words to be shared, a simple meeting of the eyes, green melting into brown, was enough to state their intentions. First, it was one step, then another, and then one more before they found themselves next to each other, not sure what to do first. Eragon made the initial move, as he had throughout most of their friendship. His hand came up to rest against her cheek, his thumb tracing the line of her cheekbone. Her lips parted a little, as if she were about to speak, but he placed his finger on her lips, silencing her. They were standing so close that she could feel his warm breath on her and if she listened carefully, she could hear his heartbeat as well. As he leaned a little closer to her, his heart began to pump a little faster, and it was only when she reined her senses in a little that she felt her own doing the same.

She could read his intentions in his eyes, and there was no urge to pull back. As much as it would hurt when she had to leave again, it would hurt far less than before, when they had held themselves back in order to protect themselves. She had once heard a werecat say that in order to protect oneself, you must first open yourself up, and she was in no doubt that that statement was perfect for the two of them. Over the years, she and Eragon had refrained from anything more than a handshake and one near-kiss when they had had far too much faelnirv to drink. But now, now seemed right, right for both of them, and their dragons.

Thus it was with grace that their lips touched for the first time. It was half a century since the Black King's fall, and seven journeys with new Riders to be trained. And yet, it was as though none of that had occurred, as though they were separate entities from the world and nothing could intrude. The kiss was neither overly long, nor forceful or overly passionate, in conventional terms, but between the two of them, it spoke epics. They broke apart, only for Arya to reclaim his lips once again, not wanting to miss out on a moment of what little time they had together.

And so there they stood, together as one, body and soul, a romance of great proportions and above them flew their dragons, one with the sky and themselves.

* * *

><p><em>So, there I was one day, after reading Inheritance, and this little oneshot popped into my head and wouldn't even let me wait until I reached my homelaptop to write it. Cue feverish typing on mobile phone._

_It was lovely to come back to the Inheritance Cycle again, my first true fandom, and I have at least one more one shot roaming around in my mind._

_Hope you guys enjoyed reading it, and I'd love to hear some feedback/ideas. I may do a longer version of this oneshot, including more visits, and perhaps extending it even further..._

_Woody2792x_


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